Packer and valve



Nov. 17, 1936. J PHlPPs 2,061,289

PACKER AND VALVE Filed Oct. 9, 1934 Pgt ted Nov. '17, 1936 v I Q 2,061,289

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PACKER AND VALVE John T. Phipps, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to R. Knowlton Application October 9, 1934, Serial No. 147,545

6 Claims. (01. 166-12) My invention relates to oil-well packers, and Figure 4 is a detail horizontal sectional view has particular reference to the combination of taken along line IV-IV of Figure 1. an oil-well packer and a valve for maintaining Referring particularly to Figures 1, 2 and 3, I pressure upon fluid in an oil-well. have illustrated a section of oil-well casing I,

5 In the pumping of oil-wells it is the common within the interior of which is located a flow tubpractice to insert within the well casing a device ing 2 which may be formed of any desired conwhich closes off the oil-well casing at a predeterstruction providing an interior passage through mined level, thereby dividing the easing into two which oil from the well may flow without commuseparate chambers, namely an upper chamber nicating with the casing I.

and a lower chamber through both of which Immediately above the casing [,Iprovide what 10 chambers extendsatube or pipe throughwhich oil is known as a packer which consists of a plumay be pumped from the lower compartment to rality 0f a n ar rings of packing ater al 3 the top of the well by means of fluid pressure ounted up an interior pp v a which is placed in the upper compartment beflange 5 rig dly ecured as by thr ads Bto the M tween the oil-well casing and the pump tubing. nipple 4 resting upon the upper surface of the In combination with packers dividing the caspacking rings 3. The lower surface of the ing into upper and lower compartments, I find pac ng rings 3 preferably abut p a 001 8- that it is especially desirable to place a valve in Shaped S d the or Surface of which the pump tubing immediately above such packer r s a W d Construction alflng W ch so that the oil or gas or other fluid which is emps 8 may slide. The slips 8 are illustrated as ployed for pumping the well may pass from the being formed of substantially wedge-shaped cross exterior of the tubing in the upper compartment section, the exterior surface of which is provided to the interior of the pump tubing and it is, W h a plurality f teeth 9 constituted by a therefore, an object of my invention to apply a Series of serrations in the exterior base of 'the valve at such position which will effectively pre- "S ips 8, while the exterior surface of the slips 25 vent back-flow of pressure from the interior of p s a ooth. tapered Su e ga g the the pump tubing to the interior of the casing in p d e te or Surface of the cone-shaped such upper compartment. slide 1.

Another object of the invention is toprovide It will be observed that each of the slips cona valve of the character set forth in the preced- Stitutes a Segm nt of a y nder of such width 30 ing paragraph in which the valve is constructed that when all of the slips are assembled together to automatically close by gravity. around the slide 1 such assembled slips do not Another object of the invention is to provide mpletely enc ose the slide 1, there being an oil-well packer set in place by means of slips Spaces I0 between adjacent slips whereby these which are adapted to engage the interior 'surps may move inwardly toward each other and 35 face of the oil-well casing throughout the enoutwardly relative to each other as their tapered tire inner circumference of the oil-well casing. interiors ride 1 up n the tapered exterior of Another object of the invention is to provide the cone-slide 1. However, it will be observed a slip construction for oil tools which will engage that each of the Slips 8 is P d along ts mid- 40 the interior of an oil-well casing throughout'the Section w an extending ton u ll a n a 40 entire circumference of said casing corresponding recess or groove! formed in the Other objects and advantages will be apparent S1de of the ad-lacent P- Thus each from a study of the following specifications, read of the 511135, though Qapable of and in connection with the accompanying drawing, Ward movement relative to the 90118 7 independwherein ent of the others, is fixed against longitudinal 45 Figure 1 is a vertical elevational view partly in g fif g gg f gbglr ih if l i ai bg f :33:12? sect o of an Packer 1 vaflve ping construction of the tongues H and recesses structed in accordance with my invention;

or grooves l2, the area of the casing I engaged Figure 2 IS a detail, elevational view of a set by any one slip is f greater width than the of slips w h may be employed for the Setting Of width of the main body of the slip. Thus while a packer or other oil-well tool constructed in ac theexterior surface of the main body of each of cordance with my invention; the slips engages a section of the interior of the Figure 3 is a detail horizontal sectional view casing I equal to its width, the midportion upon taken along the line IIIIII of Figure 2; and which the extending tongue I I is formed engages 55 the casing l throughout that portion of the interior surface of the casing I which would be aligned with the space It between adJacent slips. In this way the grip of the assembled slips extends not to a plurality of points or sections of the casing I, as is the usual practice, but such contact actually extends throughout the entire internal circumference of the casing I.

With the construction thus far setz-forth, it will be apparent that even though considerable pressure is exerted upon the ,wedge-shaped slips 8 tending to force theminto the walls of the casing I, such pressure will be exerted evenly throughout the interior circumference of the casing, and there will be no tendency for the casing to be distorted outof its true circular shape, as is the case where a number of separate slips are used which do not have the overlapping sections it and i2.

It frequently occurs that in the setting of various oil tools with slips, the forces exerted by the 'slips upon the casing i may reach the value of several tons and this distorts the casing. In the. case where three slips of the ordinary type are used, the casing is stretched into a substantially triangular shape, while, where four of the ordinary slips are used, the casing is frequently stretched into a substantially square cross section, making it extremely difilcult to remove such casing or to thereafter pass tools through the distorted portions of the casing. with my slips having the overlapping portions II and 82 such distortion is entirely avoided the contact of the slips with the casing being throughout the entire circumference of the casing, the distorting forces are evenly applied throughout the circumference, and there is no opportunity for the casing to stretch out of its true circular shape.

While herein I have illustrated the slips 8 as being associated with a packer, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the slip construction and arrangement as shown herein is equally adaptable to other oil-well tools, such as tubing catchers, elevators, and other devices which require an engagement between two pipes or between pipes and tools in oil-well practice.

In Figure 1 I have illustrated the packer and slips as associated with the usual anchors 53 having springs it normally engaging the interior walls of the casing i and arranged in the manner well-known to those skilled in the oil-well practice to drag on the casing i to exert a resistance to the downward movement of the slips 8 when it is desired to separate the same in gripping relation with the interior of the casing i. The anchor i3 is connected to each of the slips 8 by means of rings i5, there being one of such rings connected to each of the slips as indicated in Figures 1 and 2.

When the packer illustrated herein is to be employed in connection with flow tubing through which oil or gas is adapted to how from the bottom of the well to the surface thereof the packing rings 3 are placed in the casing i to divide the casing into a lower chamber is and an upper chamber ii so that gas or oil may be pumped down through the upper chamber i1 and may be permitted to flow into the flow tubing 2 at a point above the packer. For example, in certain types of wells it is desirable to apply a predetermined pressure in the upper chamber I! which is not desired to be transmitted to the lower chamber l6, and in such cases a valve is interposed between the upper chamber lli and the interior of the flow tubing 2. However, such valves as have heretofore been used are not positive in their operation and when pressure is relieved in the chamber 11 there is a tendency for the gas or liquid in the flow pipe 2 above the \packer to flow back into the upper chamber I! or for the pressure in the chamber I I to leak through the valve so that when it is again desired to flow the well it is necessary to apply considerable pressure for a considerable length of time before the pressure within the flow pipe reaches the value necessary to make the well again flow.

I propose to use a valve intercommunicating the upper chamber I! with the interior of the flow pipe 2 constructed as shown in Figures 1 and 4 wherein a bushing I8 is illustrated as being connected to the upper end of the nipple 4, the central longitudinal bore IQ of which constitutes an extension or a section of the flow pipe 2. The bushing i8 is of considerably greater diameter than the nipple 4 through the lower wall of which I I provide a plurality of bores 20 extending vertically in parallel. relation with the central bore i9. Each of the bores 20 constitutes a. port communicating with a radial passage 2| extending into communication with the interior of the central bore it while the bore-forming ports 20 extend a considerable distance above the radial opening 2i to form a-seat or pocket in which may be located a spring 22 which bears upon the upper surface of a ball 23. Thus the ball 23 is pressed into tight engagement with the port 20 and closes the same in the manner of a check valve which prevents the flow-back of pressure from the interior of the flow pipe 2 to the upper chamber i1 formed in the casing. With this construction it will be observed that not only does the spring 22 tend to seat the ball 23, but such ball will seat by gravity securely upon the port .20 and it has been found in practice that by using this construction substantially no leakage of pressure occurs.

While I have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to any of the details shown herein, except as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In an oil-well packer, a nipple, a plurality of packing rings surrounding said nipple, a pressure cone surrounding said nipple adapted to move along said nipple to compress said-packing rings, and slips on said nipple for engaging said cone and a casing in which said packer is placed, said slips having interengaging members thereon distributing the area of contact with said casing throughout the entire inner circumference of said casing.

2. In an oil-well packer, a nipple, a plurality of packing rings surrounding said nipple, a pressure cone surrounding said nipple adapted to move along said nipple to compress said packing rings and slips on said nipple for engaging said cone, a casing in which said packer is placed, said slips having interengaging members thereon distributing the area of contact with said casing throughout the entire inner circumference of said casing, and a check valve interposed between said nipple and said casing immediately above said packing ring, said check valve closing by gravity.

3. In a packer assembly for oil-wells, a plurality of packing rings, means for compressing said rings into engagement with a well casing to divide the well casing into upper and lower chambers, a flow pipe associated with said packing 7s cating means for closing communication between said upper chamber and said flow pipe and operable by gravity.

4. In the packer assembly ior oil-wells, a plurality of packing rings, means for compressing said rings into engagement with a well casing to divide the well casing into upper and lower cham-- bers, a flow pipe associated with said packing rings through which oil from the lower chamber may pass, means intercommunicatihg a valve for said upper chamber with the interior otsaid flow pipe comprising a bushing having a longitudinal opening therethrough communicating with said flow pipe, a plurality of bores extending parallel to said central opening, each of said bores comprising a port and intercommunicating the exterior of said bushing with said central opening, and gravity-actuated valves for closing said ports.

5. In a packer assembly for oil-wells, a plurality of packing rings, means for compressin said rings into engagement with a well casing to divide the well easing into upper and lower chambers, a flow pipe associated with said packing rings through which oil from the lower chamber so may pass, valve means intercommunicating said upper chamber with said flow tubing including a bushing having a longitudinal bore extendin therethrough adapted to form a vertical section of said flow tubing, 8. second bore extending from the lower suriace of said bushing in a direction parallel to said central bore, a passage lntercommunicating said second bore with the interior of said central bore, and a ball valve located in said second'bore below said passage adapted to close said second bore by gravity.

6. In a packer assembly for oil-wells, a plurality' of packing rings, means for compressing said rings into engagement with a well casing to divide the well casing into upper and lower chambers, a flow pipe associated with said packin'g rings through which oil from the lower chamber may pass, valve means intercommunicating said upper chamber with said flow tubing including a bushinghaving a longitudinal bore extending therethrough adapted to iorm a vertical secticn of said flow tubing, a second bore extending from the lower surface or said bushing in a direction parallel to said central bore, a passage intercommunicating said second bore with the interior oi said central bore, a ball valve located in said second bore below said passage adapted to close said second bore by gravity. an extension 0! said second bore above said passage, and a spring interposed' in said extension engageable with said ball valve to assist gravity in seating said ball valve.

JOHN '1. PHIPPB. 

